I would guess that they'll shift the DTV stations down low so that after the repack the ATSC 3.0 stations will be as high as possible. This may motivate people to become ATSC 3.0 capable quicker (or force them to pay TV).
It isn't a matter of choices. It is an observation by our congressional representatives that people want to wile away the hours "interacting" with their wireless phones or tablets rather than engaging in family or community activities.
In the end (a dozen years from now or so), most markets should do fine. Between 2020 and then, it will get very dicey for some and the largest will probably feel a very real squeeze.
After the disappointment this morning losing thistv, heck come take my antenna and this atsc 3.0 whatever, tell the proponents thanks for messing up a good thing, I'm happy with what i got in my market.
VHF-Low will really suck. In Philly, you cannot pick up Channel 6 if you are 20 miles from the tower. Sometimes, you can't pick it up in the center of the city. I'm about 45 miles away and cannot pick it up.
Pulling in Ch 6 just fine up here in Carbon County (77 miles) with a 160" boom, 57 elements, RS roof top antenna + mast mounted pre-amp, and that's on the north side of the Blue Mountains.
Antennas are NOT a fashion statement. If you could ask the Greeks why they called it "physics" they would simply point you to the link in Wikipedia as the stone tablets they were using are long gone. Physics - Wikipedia - Antennas - what a concept, when connected to your radio or TV you can pick up these signals, I think they call it "wireless"....